Although born in Utah, Jack Horsley went to high school in Seattle where he swam for the Red Shield Triton SC. Horsley won the AAU 200m backstroke in 1968, setting an American record in the process. He won his Olympic medal while a high school student. Horsley attended Indiana University. After college Horsley attended medical school at the University of Cincinnati and then did his residency in interal medicine at the San Joaquin County Hospital in Stockton, California. Horsley later settled in Ellensburg, Washington, where he became board certified in emergency medicine and has been a long-time director of student health services at Central Washington University.